13118AU ORIGINAL Complete Specification Applicant: Monty Poole Title: Collapsible Crate Address for Service: LESICAR PERRIN, 49 Wright Street, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to melus: 2 Collapsible Crate FIELD OF THE INVENTION 5 The present invention relates to a collapsible crate. The crate of the invention is useful in connection with a utility vehicle BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 10 Utility vehicles are very popular for use by farmers, tradespeople and others who have loads to carry from time to time. For example, farmers may wish to transport small numbers of stock from location to location in a utility vehicle. To ensure that stock can be transported safely a cage may typically be used to enclose the stock. A cage can be mounted onto the bed of the vehicle tray or perhaps attached to the sides of the 15 vehicle. However, it is not always convenient to have a cage or other enclosure in position as this may interfere with other uses for the storage area or tray bed. The present invention offers an alternative to existing arrangements. 20 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore according to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a collapsible crate having front and rear wall members, whereby said front and rear wall members have interconnecting side wall members, wherein said side wall members 25 being bifurcated and collapsible inwardly so that said crate is collapsible from an open position to a closed position in which said front and rear wall members are arranged so as to lie substantially parallel; said bifurcated side wall members are adapted to rotatably collapse about at least one hinge; 30 said hinges are formed of mirror image planar hinge elements and a central hinge pin of which the hinge elements rotate about, whereby each said hinge element is generally an L shaped element having a first limb portion and a second limb portion; and 3 wherein said first and second limb portions have a tapered form whereby in an open position the first parallel sided limb portions are positioned so as to be superimposed and in a closed position the tapered second limb portions are arranged so as to be superimposed. 5 Preferably, the bifurcated side wall members comprise of a pair of side wall panels, said side wall panels are interconnected by at least said hinge and are rotatable about said hinges between open and closed positions. Preferably, the first limb portion is arranged to lie against a frame member of said side 10 wall panel and wherein said second limb portion is arranged to lie against a frame member of the adjacent side wall panel. Preferably, the first and second limb portions are shaped so as to allow adjacent side wall panels to be rotated such that they lie parallel to one another in the closed position. 15 Preferably the rear wall member includes an outer frame and a plurality of evenly spaced horizontally extending members; said front wall member includes a outer frame with a vertical column dividing the front wall member into two halves; said first half including a plurality of horizontally extending members and said second half including a gate. 20 Preferably, the gate is vertically hinged. Preferably, the crate may contain a gabled portion adapted to further enclose the crate, whereby said front and rear wall members further include a gabled portion extending from the top of said front and rear wall members. 25 DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings: 30 Figure 1 illustrates in plan view a crate in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention in plan view in a condensed condition; Figure 2 illustrates the crate of figure 1 in plan view and in semi-expanded condition; 4 Figure 3 illustrates the crate of figure 1 in plan view and in expanded condition; Figure 4 illustrates the crate of figure 1 in perspective view and in expanded condition; Figure 5a illustrates a hinge arrangement of the crate of figure 1 in a first 5 configuration in plan view; Figure 5b illustrates the hinge arrangement of figure 5a in perspective view; Figure 6a illustrates a hinge arrangement of the crate of figure 1 in a second configuration in plan view; Figure 6b illustrates the hinge arrangement of figure 6a in perspective view; 10 Figure 7a illustrates a hinge arrangement of the crate of figure 1 in a third configuration in plan view; Figure 7b illustrates the hinge arrangement of figure 7a in perspective view; Figure 8 shows in perspective view a crate in accordance with a second aspect of the present invention in a condensed condition; and 15 Figure 9 shows the crate of figure 8 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying 20 drawings. Although the description includes exemplary embodiments, other embodiments are possible, and changes may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same and like parts. 25 Shown in figures 1-7 are a collapsible crate 10 formed in accordance with the invention. The crate 10 includes four sidewalls 12, 14, 16 and 18 joined to form a generally rectangular structure as shown in figure 3. 30 The size of the individual sidewalls 12,14,16,18 may vary, however, there are common elements in the construction of the walls and each case the walls are formed generally of an outer frame and intermediate horizontal members. Individual sidewalls have specific constructional features as will be seen. The frame is made, in the example under consideration of hollow metal tubular sections as are the horizontal 35 bars. The structures are conveniently manufactured by welding separate frame members together. It is easily appreciated that the adoption of this style of 5 construction and selection of these materials is but one of many forms of construction that could be used. A first rear side wall 12includes an outer frame 20 and 5 evenly spaced horizontally 5 extending members 22 that span the entire width of the crate 10. Opposing the rear sidewall 12 is a front wall 14. The front wall 14 consists of an outer frame 24 of similar size and shape to the frame 20. An intermediary vertical column 26 divides the frame 24 into 2 separate equally sized halves 26,28. A first half 26 is shown on the left hand side in figure 4 and a second half 28 shown on the right hand side of the drawing in 10 figure 4. The first half 26 has 5 evenly spaced horizontally extending members 30 that span the width of the half. The second half 28 consists of a gate 32 also formed of an outer frame and horizontal crossbars. The gate 32 is hinged vertically at an outer edge of the frame 24 and is proved with a lock bolt 34. 15 It can be seen that in each case the outer dimensions of the front and rear walls are determined by the outer frames 20 and 24 respectively. In use, the rear sidewall 12 is at the rear of the vehicle and provides easy access to the interior of the crate 10. The vertically hinged gate 32 is but one method of 20 providing access to the interior of the crate 10 and other means of providing access are within the scope of the invention. For example it is quite possible for a vertically pivoted opening to be provided. Turning now to the sidewalls 16 and 18 it is apparent from the drawings that these are 25 identical to one another. Each sidewall 16, 18 includes a pair of panel members 34 arranged side by side. Each panel member 34 consists of an outer frame 36 and a number of evenly spaced horizontal cross bar members 36. The pair of panel members 34 that constitute each sidewall 16,18 are joined to one another by a pair of spaced hinges 38 along the adjacent vertical edges of the panel members 34. 30 Similarly, respective panel members 34 are attached to the front and rear sidewalls 12,14 by hinges 36. The hinges 36 are movable so that the panels 34 may adopt any position relative to one another and the panels 34 are freely movable about the hinges 36. 35 The usefulness of the hinges 36 is demonstrated by the plan view figures 1, 2 and 3. In these drawings it can be seen that the hinges 36 are adapted to allow the various 6 wall members and panels that they joint to adopt different configurations. More specifically, the crate 10 is movable between a compressed condition shown in figure 1 and an expanded configuration shown in figure 3 via a generalised intermediary half closed position shown in figure 2. The operation of the hinge 36 facilitates this 5 movement together with the bifurcated nature of the sidewall panels 16,18. The hinges 36 connect adjacent outer frame members. Each hinge 36 consists of two mirror image hinge elements 36a, 36b arranged on top of one another so as to form a lower hinge and an upper hinge element connected by a hinge pin 38. The hinge 10 elements 36a and 36b are rotatable relative to one another about the axis formed by the hinge pin 38. The hinge elements 36a and 36b are L-shaped elements having a first line of the L 40 and a second limb 42. Between the limbs 40 and 42 is a right angled inner edge 44. In use, as can be seen in figures 6 and 7 the inner edge 44 is positioned so as to lie snugly against a frame member. In fact the hinges are 15 positioned such that the first limb sections lie between adjacent frame members and the second limb sections 42 lie outside of the frame members. The first limb 40 is generally rectangular in shape and has parallel long edges. The limbs 40 are Furthermore the two generally planar hinge elements 36a and 36b are 20 arranged such that the first limb portions 40 are adjacent to one another and may be rotated to the positions shown in figures 6a and 6b in which the two first limb portions 40 are superimposed to a second position shown in figures 7 in which the two limbs 40 are radially separated. The limbs 40 each have an aperture 46 therein and, when the limbs 40 are in the position shown in figures 6a and 6b the apertures 46a re 25 superimposed. Thus this position may be secured by placing a pin into the apertures. The second portion of the limb 42 is shaped rather differently to the first. The width of the limb portion 42 tapers gradually from a widest part at the centre where the hinge pin 38 is fitted to a narrower end 50. The effect of the narrowing of the limb 42 is seen 30 when the hinge elements 36a and 36b are rotated towards one another, the narrow portion 50 allows them to approach more closely than a parallel section would otherwise be the case. In fact the tapered portion of the limb 42 is sufficient to allow adjacent frame members to lie more or less flat against one another when they are rotated together so that the limbs 42 lie in a superimposed position. 35 7 In use, in the open position shown in figure 3 the frame members and hinges 36 joining the panels 34 that form the sidewalls 16 and 18 are in the superimposed position. These hinges are indicated at 48 in the drawings and it can be seen that the second limb 42 of the hinges 36 are positioned on the outer side of the frame. Thus, 5 when there are no means securing the hinges together it is possible for the hinges 36 to be rotated such that the panels 34 collapse inwardly as seen in figure 2. Furthermore, the hinges 36 at the four corners 52 of the crate are positioned with the tapered second limb 42 on the inner side of the frame as shown in figures 5 and 5a. Thus, the corners 52 are able to collapse inwardly again as shown in figure 2. 10 Ultimately, the crate 10 adopts the completely collapsed position shown in figure 1. In the collapsed condition it is noted that the various panel members are all lying parallel to one another, thereby occupying a minimum of space. The crate 10 of the invention is therefore easily moved between the open position in which stock of other items can be transported, and the closed position in which the-space occupied in the tray of a 15 utility vehicle is minimised. A second embodiment of a crate in accordance with the invention is shown in figures 8 and 9. In this case a crate 60 is formed in the same manner as the crate 10. However the crate 60 includes front and rear sidewalls 62,64 that include a gabled 20 portion. When the crate 60 is in the expanded condition shown in figure 9 it is possible for a connector 66 to be placed across the top of the gable as shown. The advantage of the gable is that it further encloses the contents of the crate 60 and also provides support if the crate requires a cover, such as a canvas cover. 25 Further advantages and improvements may very well be made to the present invention without deviating from its scope. Although the invention has been shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope and spirit of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but 30 is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices and apparatus. In any claims that follow and in the summary of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the 35 word "comprising" is used in the sense of "including", i.e. the features specified may be associated with further features in various embodiments of the invention.
8 Dated: 7/09/2006 Monty Poole By their Patent Attorneys 5 Lesicar Perrin